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These Appetizers are Good Examples of What Not to Eat

Americans love what we call Italian food, but the excessive white-flour pasta and meat- and cheese-filled entrées could have a devastating impact on our waistlines and arteries. And it all starts with the appetizers.

Here’s a sampling of overly-indulgent appetizers from Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Olive Garden, and Maggiano’s Little Italy. The numbers—we took them from the companies’ Web sites—are likely to reflect what you’d get in similar dishes at similar restaurants.

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Carrabba’s Tomatoes Caprese

Calories: 450
Saturated Fat: 18 grams
Sodium: 340 mg

“Fresh milk mozzarella with sliced tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil and a balsamic reduction” keeps the sodium admirably low. And it’s one of the few dishes not loaded with white flour. Share it with others to dilute nearly a day’s saturated fat.

Olive Garden’s Grilled Chicken Flatbread

Calories: 760
Saturated Fat: 15 grams
Sodium: 1,500 mg

“Chicken, mozzarella, roasted red peppers and basil with alfredo and garlic spread.” Flatbread pizza may sound healthy, but it’s loaded with calories from the same white flour, cheese, and alfredo sauce that may well show up in your entrée.

Maggiano’s Bruschetta

Calories: 560
Saturated Fat: 10 grams
Sodium: 920 mg

Half a dozen pieces of buttered toast topped with fresh tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, and roasted garlic. Olive Garden’s nine-piece order swaps the butter for oil, so the saturated fat drops to just 3 grams. But you’ll be starting dinner with 950 calories’ worth of white flour and close to a two-day supply of sodium. Ugh.

“A bite-sized blend of olives and Italian cheeses, rolled together and lightly fried.” Translation: deep-fried olive-and-cheese balls with an oil or cream sauce. Ordering the Crispy Risotto Bites (deep-fried cheese-and-rice balls) instead drops the calories to 350 and the saturated fat to 4 grams, but the sodium is about the same.

Who can afford to share roughly 1,000 or 1,500 calories—mostly from the frying oil and the breading that entombs the squid—before dinner? The calamari with lemon butter sauce (and its 2½-day load of saturated fat) should come with a defibrillator.

“Parmesan-breaded lasagna pieces, fried and served over alfredo sauce, topped with parmesan cheese and marinara sauce.” Do you need a new appetizer for your restaurant? No problem. Just deep-fry an old dish and add alfredo sauce! Nothing like 1,000 calories and a day’s sat fat and sodium to start a meal.

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Notice: Content at this site is not intended to provide medical advice, which should be obtained from a qualified health professional. Any products evaluated or sources cited may contain information that is now outdated. Readers should check product labels to ensure any nutrient content has not changed since our review and still meets the criteria established by Nutrition Action.